North happy to end on a high

15 March 2014 17:58pm

By WRU

George North scored two of Wales' seven tries on Saturday

Wales wing George North says today's record-breaking rout of Scotland is a big boost ahead of the summer tour of South Africa, even if it doesn't make up for the disappointment of defeat to England last week.

Warren Gatland's men ran in seven tries as they pushed past a half century of points to record their third win of this season's RBS 6 Nations campaign.

Man of the match Liam Williams, namesake Rhodri and Taulupe Faletau grabbed a try apiece, while North and centre Jamie Roberts both touched down twice as Wales made the most of the one-man advantage handed to them courtesy of Stuart Hogg's 23rd minute red card in Cardiff.

"The boys played exceptionally well and, when the game opens up like that, that's how we like to play. I'm happy with that," said North, whose first score came at the end of a superb team move with 34 minutes on the clock.

"It was great to get a good win. There are still things to work on but it was much better.

"Obviously we'd been to Twickenham and didn't get the result we wanted so we worked really hard to try and get back up to where we had been. We'd trained very hard this week and I think that showed today.

"It obviously doesn't make up for that loss last week, but today the performance was good. Going forward, we've finished the campaign on a high note by winning three games at home."

Those sentiments were echoed by fly half Dan Biggar, with the Ospreys playmaker pulling the strings as Wales made 12 linebreaks and caused Scotland all sorts of problems in the wide channels.

Biggar sat behind Rhys Priestland for the first four games of the Championship after starting all five fixtures in the 2013 title triumph and he was delighted to be back at the helm in such a convincing showing.

"It was enjoyable, although I think the sending off helped us. We played some good stuff and, overall, it was a great day," said Biggar, who was quick to praise those inside and outside of him at the Millennium Stadium.

"The pack were exceptional - they fronted up well after last week. The fire power that we have in this side makes it easy for the nine and 10 to do their job.

"We deserved it, and for us to bounce back as we did showed character. It was a shame that our two away performances meant we didn't have anything to play for but we have to be happy for today."

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Warren Gatland and Sam Warburton look ahead to this week's crunch RBS 6 Nations tie against France, where the Wales skipper in particular is keen to make his mark, as Paris has proved a bleak place for him in the past.